So it terrifies the bejeezus out of most of us when step 3 looks nothing like step 1. We despair, thinking we have failed, and try to hide the evidence where no one will find it. We rarely stop to consider, what if that end result is actually so much better than what we could have ever possibly imagined? Instead, we kill the idea before we have a chance to find out. To me, that’s tragic. And it’s the antithesis of both art and magic and the actual creative process. With each of my books, I have an idea of how I want to help others, and I’ve come to realize that the baseline for all of my works is a theme of reconnection. For example, Anatomy of a Witch is a guide to recognizing the power of your body, and Weave the Liminal is an aid for crafting an authentic practice from within you. This book is about discovering where art and magic intersect, but it’s also essentially about how to reclaim the ability to make art. We all have the power to make art, but many of us doubt that we can actually do the thing. I believe that it’s possible to help others see, feel, and think in images, rebuilding that frayed connection to art and creativity. Through the motion of making a mark and reveling in the design process, you too can find magic and meaning in creating art.
In the Beginning Visual arts have been an integral part of my life for as far back as I can remember. I also became fascinated with metaphysics very early on, relentlessly checking out different books from Time-Life’s Mysteries of the Unknown series from the library and watching In Search Of and similar shows on TV. I even remember trying to master psychic abilities with my friends, influenced by the scene in the 1984 film Ghostbusters where Venkman (Bill Murray) is using Zener cards to test for ESP (minus the electroshock bit, of course). I think what made the greatest impression on me were those very simple symbols on the cards, and how they could be perceived by the human mind. As I studied art history, I recognized those same basic shapes and symbols everywhere. They are carved in the petroglyphs in the American Southwest. They show up in the paintings of the Abstract Expressionists. We find them in the shapes of the buildings we live, work, commune, and worship
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Introduction
